Means for operating musical instruments.



B. S. VOTEY.

MEANS FOR OPERATING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 13, 1910.

1,082,218. Patented Dec. 23, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

. E. S. VOTEY.

MEANS FOR OPERATING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 13, 1910.

1,082,218, Patented Dec. 23, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W. I ggwabvmwgmw'zfl Quorum:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN S. VOTEY, OF SUMMIT, NEW J EBSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE AEOLIAN COMPANY,

' OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 23, 1913.

Application filed May 13, 1910. Serial No. 561,162..

To all whom; it may concern:

Be it known that I,-ED WIN S. Vo'rnY, a citizen f the United States, residing at Summit, in the county of Qlnion and State of New Jersey, have invented. new and useful Improvements in Means for Operating Musical Instruments, of which the following is a'specification.

My invention consists of a means for operating two or more musical instruments to" gether, and is particularly designed for the operation of said instruments together in the same musical time and harmony of pitch.

The embodiment of my invention which I shall describe, is applied particulzu ly to two musical instruments such for instance as a player piano and a phonograph or graphophone, driven by means supplied with power from a common source, and comprises means associated with each motor for controlling the speed of the motor, and hence the musica]. time of the corresponding musical instrument as Well as the pitch of one of the instruments. Broadly speaking, this means constitutes or effects in each case, a tempocontrol for each instrument, but obviously, this means may be related or unrelated to the regular tempo-control already prov ded in connecticm with each instrument. Preferably the means of control which I provide are operable independently and separably, as will hereinafter appear.

Specifically speaking the embodiment of the invention which I shall describe comprises in combination, two musical instruments, such for instance as a player piano --controlied by a record element and an in strument for reproducing the human voice or sounds, such as a phonograph or graphophone controlled by a record element, a motor for driving the piano player record, a separate motor for driving the record of the instrument for reproducing the human voice or sounds, a local source of power for the piano player located in the casing of the latter for driving both the said. motors, and separate manually operable means for controlling the speed of each. motor, such means being readily operable at the will. of the performer during the playin of the instruments. This embodiment o my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in

wh ch,

Figure l. is a diagrammatic lay-out of my invention, and Fig. 2 shows the mechanism embodied in the casing of a piano player.

10 is one musical instrument, illustrated as an automatic piano controlled by the passage of the perforated music sheet 11 over a reader 12. The musical time in which this instrument plays is determined by the rapid- 17 is a motor geared to the shaft 18 of the phonograph for rotating the record. Each of these motors is supplied with power from a common source of fluid-pressure 19, connections being made with the motors through conduit 20, branch-box 21, and conduit connections 2: 5, L3 As thus organized, the driving system illustrated will operate to drive the two musical instruments 10 and 13, un der some conditions, at approximately the speed. necessary for the same musical time. But normally there is a great difference in the speeds of the records of the two instruments caused primarily by a difierence in the load of each instrument upon its motor. Dependent upon the size and character of the records of the selection being played, and upon the difference in the frictions of the mechanical parts, the speed of the motors, and hence, the musical time of the instruments will be caused to vary not only from one selection to another, but at difierent times in the playing of the same selection. Other causes not necessary to be mentioned here also contribute toward this variance.

My invention is designed for the adjust ment of the musical times and pitch of the instruments to each other, and beyond that for the adjustment of the musical time of the selection played by the instruments to that which it properly should be. i

The means which I show comprises the two Valves 2 .1 and 25 mounted in the branchbox 21 and controlling one of them, the pas sage of fluid. from a central chamber 26 of the branch-box to an outside chamber 27 with which the conduit .22 is connected, and the other, the flow of air from the central chamber 26 to an outer chamber 28 with which the conduit 23 is connected, the central chamber 26 being connected directly with the conduit 20 from the power supplying means 19. Obviously by movement of the valve 24 by its lever 29, I may throttle the valve opening between ch'ambers'26 and 27 and thereby adjust the speed of the motor 15, and the musical time of the automatic instrument 10 at will. Likewise by similar adjustment of the valve 25 through its lever 30, I may similarly adjust the speed of the motor 17 and the musical time and pitch of the instrument 13. In practical use of my invention, the procedure is first to set one instrument, as 13, to operating at the proper musical time for the selection to be played,-

and thereafter to at will adjust the musical time of the other instrument 10 to accurately follow the first named instrument.

As is well understood, the pitch of the sounds produced by an instrument for reproducing the human voice or sounds, such for instance as a phonograph or graphophone, depends entirely upon the speed of travel of the record element of such instru ment, and in order to maintain a given pitch is is necessary to rotate the record element at a constant or uniform speed, any alteration or variation of the speed resulting in a corresponding change in the pitch of the sounds reproduced. Inasmuch as I propose, according to this invention, to operate or play the phonograph or graphophone simultaneously with the player piano, as for instance the one in accompaniment of the other, and inasmuch as the pitch of the piano remains constant or fixed and is not affected by variations in the travel of its controlling music sheet, I pro ide readily accessible and operable means under the control of the performer, namely, valve controller 32,.101' first adjusting the speed of rotation of the phonograph record to bring its sounds in true musical pitch or harmony wlth the pitch of the piano, and by means of the other valve controller 29, the operator may then vary the speed of travel of the music sheet at will during the playing of the instrmnent to cause the piano to accurately follow the phono raph, and this is of special. advantage, since itis necessary that the perforations in the music sheet shall move over and in coincidence with the ducts in the reader 12, in such a manner as to cause the sounding devices of the piano to speak at the proper moment to bring about true musical harmony with. the sounds produced by the phonograph or graphophone.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for Either or both of the valve operating members 29, 30 may be associated with the regularly provided tempo-control of one of the corresponding instruments. Illustrative of this, I have the operating member 30 of valve 25 connected to a tempo-lever 31 and operable by button 32 which would be placed at a suitable point upon the corresponding instrument. Thus it will be seen that I have provided extremely eflijent and simple means for accomplishing the object of my invention. As illustrated in Fig. 2 one of the musical instruments, as 13, may quite readily be placed within the casing of the other, as for instance the instrument 10, and this is a preferred embodiment of the invention. Under these circumstances, the simplicity of my invention, and the small number of its several parts, will be of great advantage.

It is, of course, evident that my invention is not limited to a pneumatic driving system, but is applicable to driving systems of other characters, in which there is used any means for driving the instruments, any power supplying means to take the place. of 19, any connections between the power supply and the motors, and any means associated with the motors. (as are the valves 24, 25, in the conduits 22, 23, leading to the motors) or in the connections between the motors and a power supplying means, for controlling the motors to cause them to drive the instruments to play in the same musical time.

I desire therefore to have it understood that, while I have described the best form of my inventionnow known to me, that this form is capable of modification without departing in anywise irom the generic spiritof my invention, and I desire to cover in the annexed claim all such modifications which do fall within the generic spirit of my invention.

What I claim as new is:

In combination, a player piano controlled by a record element, a phonograph controlled by a record element, a motor for driving the piano player record, a separate motor for riving the phonograph record, av local source of power for the piano player located in the casing of the latter for driving both the said motors and separate manually operable means for controlling the speed of each motor, said means being readily operable at the will of the performer during the playing of the instruments.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, EDWIN S. VOTEY.

"Witnesses:

G150. D. BEATIY, HORACE G. Srrrz.

five h' s each, by addressing the Commissioner 0! .Patents, Washington, D. 4]. 

